Mavs are leading the NBA in steals

A mere 10 games into the season and the Dallas Mavericks are surprisingly leading the NBA in steals with 10.2 per game.

That’s a monumental accomplishment for a team that’s never finished higher than fourth in steals in its entire 34-year history.

Asked what he attributes his team’s steals’ total to, coach Rick Carlisle said: “A lot of gambling, probably. Steals can be a great thing and it also can at times mess you up if you swing and miss a lot.

“But we’ve got some guys with pretty good anticipation and quickness in (Monta) Ellis, and (DeJuan) Blair’s gotten quite a few steals. As long as we’re within our system when we”re going to for them, I’m OK — as long as we’re in a position of strength — and generally we’ve been OK with that.”